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Feb 6, 2011

In the wake of news that Microsoft and Nokia may havesome sort of tie-upin the works, Germany weekly Wirtschaftswoche is reporting that newly appointed CEO Stephen Elop will be bidding adieu to a number of high-ranking officials. Citing "company sources," the paper stated thatMary T. McDowell, a bigwig in the mobile phones unit, as well as Niklas Savander, the manager of the markets unit, could be on the outs. Moreover, Kai Oistamo (Chief Development Officer) and Tero Ojanpera, the manager responsible for services and mobile solutions, may also be enjoying their final weekends as Nokia employees. It's all part of a monumental strategy shift, and if it all pans out, it'll be Elop's first major move since taking over as CEOlast September. Hit read more for details. Of course, Anssi Vanjoki more or lessleft on his own accord, and the company has essentially forged ahead with little to no change since. We're told that Nokia has hired headhunters to scout top people to fill said slots, but it's hard to say why Elop feels that new brains are needed. Here's hoping it's the start of something... competitive.It's worth pointing out that neither Alberto Torres (exec leading MeeGo Computers) norJo Harlow(head of Symbian Smartphones) are rumored to be at risk. So if the report is true, then these organizational changes appear focused on, 1) rectifying Nokia's inability to quickly execute upon its corporate strategy and, 2) the recent walloping Nokia received in emerging markets like India where Nokia's S40 feature phones once ruled the land, but are increasingly under attack by aggressively priced cellphones from Chinese and Indian handset makers.